I've been reading Charles Dickens' The Mystery of Edwin Drood very slowly and carefully because on Saturday June 11 I am giving a talk about it at the NSW Dickens Society. This has been backed up by trips to the NSW State Library to read the commentary and criticism around the book (there's a lot!) and it really has been the most fascinating exercise. I have decided I am going to do this every year - read and study one of Dickens' novels closely and give a talk about it. The Mystery of Edwin Drood happens to be the NSW Dickens' Society's Book of the Year, so a few dozen people at least have been reading it in Sydney. Absolutely fascinating, especially because it is unfinished - poor old Dickens died while writing it.

I have also been reading the Walter Shewring translation of The Odyssey because I am doing an 8-week course on it at the Sydney WEA. It is quite a fascinating exercise, and I am enjoying it, though the reading can be rather slow at times. One thing is certain - once you start reading The Odyssey you realise just how much of our culture is linked to it. Names, stories, ideas - they keep popping up in my life again and again.

I have been keeping myself inspired with Alana Fairchild's 55 Keys, a beautiful book meant for small nibbles. Alana is a friend of mine, and I admire her work very much. This little hardcover is filled with inspiring stories and ideas, and keeps me focused on the good things in life. I think I will just keep reading it all year, constantly turning it back to the beginning.